After Modi, Rajnath supports Mamata

In an effort aimed at reaching out to the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, BJP president Rajnath Singh condemned CPM cadres for heckling her and attacked the Congress-led government for not providing enough protection during her visit to the Capital.

On Tuesday, Gujarat CM Narendra Modi had showered praise on Banerjee during his Kolkata visit. Despite being cold shouldered by the Trinamool supremo, Modi tied to appease Banerjee by augmenting her gripe against the Centre over resource allocations etc. He also blamed the previous Left front government for the poor state of development in the West Bengal.

The principal opposition’s overtures to the UPA’s estranged ally is being seen as the BJP’s attempt to form a political alliance with the Trinamool Congress for the general elections.

Singh talked to Banerjee over phone on Wednesday, condemning the incident at the planning commission a day before and demanded a thorough probe into the incident.

“I condemn the incident strongly. If any political party or organisation wants to lodge its protest on an issue, there is a way to do so in the political system. But if anyone tries to do that resorting to violence, the government should take stern steps against them,” Singh said.

The BJP chief agreed with Banerjee’s contention that Delhi is not a safe place and attacked the government for the situation in the capital that “is slipping into a state of anarchy with each passing day”. He said, “When CMs and finance ministers are not safe in Delhi, then one can imagine how safe the common man is.”